A Week with the Clique
by RubbaDubba
Summary: For the title to work you have to pronounce clique CLEEK. Then it rhymes! Claire's friends from Florida come to Westchester to visit her. Tension is flying high between the two groups, and Claire finds herself in the middle of it. Read and review!
1. Summary

**A Week From Hell...**

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**Massie Block:** When Claire's LBR friends from Florida come to Westchester for a week during the summer holidays, Massie finds herself experiencing a little bout of déjà vu. Their excitement (and disbelief) over the huge mansions, expensive price tags and daily three-course meals only reminds Massie a little too well of when a certain girl came to Westchester and nearly destroyed the Clique. 

**Alicia Rivera:** Can't stand the Florida friends. But she has more on her mind. With her crush Josh Hotz sending her E-Mails, she finds herself torn as to whether she should shun him (boy fast!) or welcome him with open arms (hello! He isn't called Josh HOTz for nothing!)

**Dylan Marvil:** She and Sarah kick it off from first sight, but their friendship is threatened by an alpha with glossy brown hair and the latest Prada bag.

**Kristen Gregory:** Mandi is a total school freak, just like Kristen. When the Pretty Committee finds out that they've been taking secret trips to the library, things get ugly.

**Claire Lyons:** She never wanted them to come in the first place, but when they do, Claire tries everything in her power to stop them from spending any time with the Pretty Committee. But when that plan fails, all she has left to do is to try and avoid any bloodshed.

**The Clique... The only thing harder than getting in is staying in.**

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**Disclaimer:  
**I don't own any of the characters, or maybe a few but not the main ones. Lisi Harrison owns them. But the story is mine.

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**I hope you enjoy! And yes. I love the little 'horizontal line' things. **


	2. Chapter 1

**

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**

**The Block Estate Guesthouse  
****Claire's Bedroom  
****12:28 p.m.  
****Thursday**

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Claire was sitting in front of her MacBook, staring at her wallpaper. It had been a long time since the photo had been of her friends back in Florida. Now it was of Claire and the rest of the Pretty Committee wearing their bikinis and hugging each other by Massie's pool. The photo made Claire smile. After a few minutes, she logged onto her instant messaging service. Her friends from Florida were all online. 

Claire still liked her Florida friends well enough, but the conversations with them seemed strained and their replies were short and to-the-point. They had remained pretty much the same, whereas Claire had changed more than they could really understand. She considered logging off quickly, but then an instant message came.

**_clairebear has been added to the conversation _**

_**mandymoo: **claire! we were just talking about you  
__**clairebear:** really?  
__**sugarandspice:** totally!  
__**saridee:** we have some GREAT news!  
__**clairebear:** what?  
__**mandymoo:** WE'RE COMING TO VISIT YOU IN WESTCHESTER!  
__**clairebear:** cool!_

Claire knew that it wouldn't work out. They had been telling her that they were going to visit her for months. Now that the summer had arrived, she knew that their chances of visiting where higher. Claire would have liked to see her friends again, but back in Florida where she didn't have the Pretty Committee in the way.

_**saridee:** no, seriously, we are this time!  
__**sugarandspice:** we already called your mom and bought plane tickets and everything  
__**mandymoo:** surprise!  
__**clairebear:** yay!_

Claire was not excited. It was uncomfortable enough when she was speaking to them by IM, and she couldn't imagine the tension when they would actually see each other face to face.

_**saridee:** i know! and it's great that we're coming in the summer! florida is sooo hot  
__**mandymoo:** i'm real excited to meet your friends  
__**sugarandspice:** and we have so much to tell you!!!  
__**mandymoo:** like that sari has a bf  
__**saridee:** i do NOT  
__**sugarandspice:** yeah, she does and they've kissed!  
__**saridee:** guyssss!.  
__**mandymoo:** claire?  
__**clairebear:** i'm here. guys i gotta go now but i'm really looking forward to you guys coming!_

**_clairebear has left the conversation_**

_**saridee:** i think we made her jealous, i bet she never even talks to boys because of that all girls school she goes to_

Claire walked into the kitchen, where her mother was baking cookies.

"Hi, Claire!" she said, while kneading the dough.

"Hey Mom", Claire said. She pinched a little dough and popped it into her mouth.

"So, what's up?"

"I just spoke to Sarah and Sari and Mandy", said Claire, scratching at her cuticles.

"Did they tell you? Aren't you so excited? They're arriving on Saturday!" Judi said, clapping her flour sprinkled hands together.

"Totally!" said Claire. Her smile was fake, but her mother wouldn't know that.

"And guess when they're arriving?"

"When?"

"This Saturday! They're staying for a week. And you can introduce them to Massie and Layne and all your other friends! Oh, sweetie, you're going to have so much fun!" grinned Judi, pulling her daughter close to her and hugging her.

"Yeah. I'm going to go tell Massie, okay?" said Claire, breaking away and hurrying to her bedroom.

"Where are you going? I thought you were going to see Massie", said Judi, crinkling her eyebrows.

"I am…" mumbled Claire.

She couldn't tell her mom that Massie would make fun of her if she showed up in her yellow shorts and baggy white T-Shirt. Once she got to her bedroom, she quickly pulled on a green terry Juicy dress (from her comp box) and slipped on her pink rubber Havainas flip flops. As Claire hurried to Massie's guesthouse, she applied some pink strawberry-flavoured lip gloss. While finger-combing her hair, Claire ran up the stone steps to the mansion.


	3. Chapter 2

**

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**

**The Block Estate  
****Massie's Bedroom  
****12:42 p.m.  
****Thursday**

* * *

Massie was staring at herself in the mirror. She pointed her toes and gazed admiringly at her taut calf muscles. They had been perfected by years of ballet lessons. Her eyes drifted up to her dark True Religion denim mini-shorts, then her pink Chloe chiffon halter neck, and settled on her face. Massie's lips were pink from her candy floss-flavoured lip gloss, her cheeks had just the right amount of blush, and her mascara, eyeliner and dark pinky-brown eyeshadow made her speckled amber eyes pop. Massie's shiny brown hair had been recently painted with highlights by Jakkob, the best hairdresser in Westchester, and it had been pulled up in a messy bun. 

"Massie? Can I come in?" someone said at the door.

"Uhhh, who is it?" Massie asked, turning away from the mirror and running to her white couch.

"Claire", the voice said.

"Uh, sure" replied Massie. She quickly grabbed the copy of Us Weekly that was lying on her coffee table and flipped it open to a page in the middle.

When Claire walked in the room, she saw Massie lounging on the cushions and reading about the latest tips on good skincare. Even though Massie had spent ages perfecting this look for when her friends came in when she was off-guard, it still looked completely and utterly natural.

"Hey", Claire sighed.

"Oh. My. Gawd! You're wearing Juicy!" Massie overlooked Claire's unmade face and messy hair, pleased by the fact that Claire wasn't wearing baggy shorts and a tacky tourist shirt, which is what she'd been wearing throughout the summer. Claire kicked off her flip flops and sat down next to Massie, curling her feet under her butt. Massie was about to tell Claire to put her feet down, but stopped herself.

"Yeah", said Claire. She tried to smile, but Massie could tell that something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Claire?" she tried.

"Nothing… It's just that…" Claire began.

"What? Come AWN, Kuh-Laire" Massie said, casting the magazine away. She was feeling impatient now – she didn't like to be left out of Claire's problems.

"Well, my friends from Florida are coming here this Saturday. And..." began Claire.

"Your. Friends. From. Florida. Are. Coming. HERE?" demanded Massie.

"Yeah. And the problem is that I'm not entirely sure if I really want 'em to come, because I haven't seen them for ages and like, I don't know if I'm gonna have fun with them" sighed Claire, picking at her cuticles.

"Why don't you just tell them?" Massie suggested, tossing her hair and picking up her magazine again.

Claire snorted and began to stand up.

"Whatever. Is the sleepover still on tomorrow?" said Claire, smoothing her dress and pulling her flip flops back on.

"Yeah. But Dylan isn't coming, she only arrives next Monday", said Massie, giving up and not looking away from her magazine. Claire shuffled around until her flip flops were on properly.

"Well, see ya then. I might come early to help you set up, if you want", smiled Claire, who was at the door now.

"That would be great", said Massie in a deadpan tone, turning the page.

Claire stepped onto the hallway, closing the door gently behind her.

As she walked across the back garden to the guesthouse, she thought about what she would do with her Florida friends. She didn't want to let them anywhere near the Pretty Committee for more than ten minutes. She could take them to the Westchester Mall. They would probably have fun, it was so much better than their mall back in Orlando, which was just a windowless barn made out of corrugated iron, full of huge department stores and tiny little stalls with polyester stuffed animals and plastic jewellery. They would probably drag her to Gucci or Chanel and laugh at the ridiculous price tags, which Claire had found so shocking when she first arrived. Now she just considered them the norm, even though she couldn't afford any of the stuff. She could take them to see a movie. The cinema in Westchester had leather armchairs instead of normal upholstered seats and the popcorn was gourmet with tons of cool flavours. She could also take them bowling. She'd been to the bowling alley with Layne, and it had fluorescent balls and if you went late at night they turned off the lights and brought down a disco ball and turned on 80s music. The bowling alley back in Orlando had Disney themes with Mickey Mouse and the Princesses painted on the walls. Claire and her friends had frequented the bowling alley and they had come to hate the fake smiles of all the cartoon characters.

Once she arrived at her house, she went into the kitchen and helped her mom make the pasta salad they were having for lunch.

"So, Claire, are you super excited for your friends coming?" asked Judi, with a wide grin. She turned around to face the wooden island in the middle of the room and grabbed another package of pasta, which she tossed into a boiling pan thing.

"Sure", said Claire vaguely. She was setting the table and her hair hung over her face, preventing her mother from seeing the true emotions underneath (sob).

Judi tried to talk to Claire about her Florida friends coming over for the rest of the meal, to no avail. Claire's answers all consisted solely of one word, which was uttered in a distant manner. Judi supposed that Claire was simply anxious about the Florida friends coming, and she guessed that Claire was worried about what they would do and if they would enjoy Westchester. Judi knew that Claire had hated it at first, so perhaps they would feel the same way. After clearing up the table, Claire went and watched bad TV with Todd for the rest of the evening.


	4. Chapter 3

**The Rivera Estate**

**The Front Hall**

**7:19**

**Friday**

"Dean? Dean?" called Alicia. She was standing on the marble floor, dressed in orange silk boy shorts and a matching baby-doll cami. She had bright orange fluffy kitten heel slippers at her feet, and her long black silky hair had been pulled back and was tied with an orange satin ribbon.

Her driver came through the big kitchen swinging doors, in his black tail-coats which was his uniform. He had a slice of pear in his hand, and a little juice was dribbling down his chin.

"Yes, Alicia?" he asked, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"I need to be at Massie's at eight o'clock, so can you call me when it's time to go so we can go and be there on time? Thanks!" she said. She pulled off the slippers and hooked her pinkie finger around the strap (so they wouldn't scratch the wood on the stairs), and then padded up the spiral stairs to her bedroom. Once she arrived, she went to her desk and sat down in front of her brand new iMac. As soon as she logged onto her IM account, she got an instant message.

_**loco4polo: **__alicia! hey!_

_**hollagurl: **__hi josh!_

_**loco4polo: **__how r u?_

_**hollagurl: **__gd gd. and u?_

_**loco4polo: **__same. but_

_**hollagurl: **__what????_

_**loco4polo: **__well, have you been ignoring me lately?_

_**hollagurl: **__omg i'm so sorry! it's just that my frends are still down bout skye's party, so I didn't want to make them feel bad_

_**loco4polo: **__how sweet_

_**hollagurl: **_

_**loco4polo: **__alicia – do u want 2 hang out sometime?_

_**hollagurl: **__like… as a date?_

_**loco4polo: **__;) sure_

_**hollagurl: **__uh, totally! but on the dl, cause of my frends…_

_**loco4polo: **__fine by me_

"Alicia! We should be going now!" yelled Dean from down the stairs. Alicia sighed, turned around and shouted, "COMING!"

Then, she looked back at the screen and poised her fingers above the keyboard.

_**hollagurl: **__sorry josh, i gotta go now. ttyl___

After logging off, Alicia grabbed her white patent leather Chanel weekend bag, which contained her clothes for the next day, toiletries and her eye-mask. She slung on a gold kimono that her mother had bought in Japan, and hurried downstairs, clutching her slippers and bag. Dean was waiting outside, in her limo. Alicia could see the lights on.

"Adios, Mama!" she called from the hallway. She slipped on her slippers and ran outside, the heels getting occasionally wedged into the gravel of the driveway. Alicia hopped into the back of the limo, and Dean started driving. On the way to Massie's house, Alicia reflected on the situation with Josh Hotz, the boy fast and the Pretty Committee. She knew that she should probably shun Josh and not have anything to do with him, but she liked him so much and it was obvious that he liked her. Besides, she had already promised to go out with him, and it would be rude to tell him she couldn't go anymore. Right? It would only be a matter of time before he got tired of her excuse that she didn't want her friends to be jealous. He might think she was lying, and dump her. And what if he found out about the boy fast? Alicia would be totally embarrassed and Massie would be furious (her cover-up to the general public was that she was acting aloof and distant, thus playing hard-to-get). Alicia had already been in trouble with the rest of the Pretty Committee before, when she started to start her own clique, and she didn't want to go through that again. She knew how mean Massie could get.

"Alicia, we've arrived", she heard Dean say, "What time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure", replied Alicia. "I'll call you. Thanks for the ride".

She hopped out and began sauntering towards the house. She saw a plain blue Toyota car pull up in the driveway. Out came Kristen, dressed in a white flowery pyjama set. She had a small purple Lacoste duffle slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, Leesh! What's up?" she grinned. Her short blonde hair was finally long enough to bet put into a ponytail, and it was bobbing up and down.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing at all", said Alicia sheepishly. She hugged her bag to herself.

"Cool. I finished SO many word jumble and crossword books this week. I've had like, NOTHING to do", smiled Kristen, looking a little confused at Alicia's abrupt answer.

"Anyway! Your hair! It's grown!" said Alicia, trying to change the conversation.

"I know! I think by the end of the summer it'll be up to my shoulders!" exclaimed Kristen, twirling the tiny stub of hair at the nape of her neck.

The two girls hooked arms and strode to the door of the house. Kristen rang the doorbell, and as they waited for the door to open they gossiped and chatted. Then, Massie and Claire appeared at the doorway. They were wearing matching pyjamas - they both wore striped cotton shorts and a matching tank top from Petit Bateau, only Massie's was blue and Claire's was pink.

"HEY!" they both shouted at the same time. The four girls hugged each other and squealed about what they had done over the past week after school had broken up. They hadn't seen each other since the previous Friday and had quite a lot to talk about. Claire abstained, however, from telling them that her Florida friends were coming to visit.

The girls went to the huge screening room, where Claire and Massie had set up for the night. Four sleeping bags were lined up, and bowls of popcorn, sweets and chocolate was scattered around. A karaoke set was in the corner, and stacks of DVDs were lying next to the DVD player which was hooked up to the screen at the front of the room, which took up the whole wall. Kristen whistled and sat herself down on her sleeping bag. From it she pulled a pyjama set which was pink and said 'Juicy' repeatedly in black script. The shorts had ruffles on the end and so did the tank top. Underneath her sleeping bag, she wiggled out of her current girly ensemble and pulled on the slightly sexier alternative she had brought with her.

"Guys… Claire has some news!" said Massie, the corners of her mouth curling up in a sly smile that Claire knew too well.

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" chanted Alicia and Kristen. Alicia ignored the closeness between Claire and Massie, from their matching jim jams and Massie's wide knowledge about Claire's life. It had caused pressure amongst the Pretty Committee before, and she didn't want it to happen again.

Claire scowled at Massie, who just winked and tossed a silken lock of hair over her shoulder. She had wanted to tell the Pretty Committee her news slowly and just before going to bed, when they were too high on sugar and caffeine to pay much attention to her. Alicia and Kristen began to poke Claire, in their persistence for her to tell them the news.

"FINE! Just stop poking me!" Claire cried, swatting away their pointy fingers. "It's not much, really. My friends from Florida are just coming to spend a week here in Westchester". She rolled her eyes and giggled nervously, not wanting them to see how anxious she was.

"WHAT?" shrieked Alicia. She still wasn't sure that she liked Claire very much, what with her kissing Josh and the underwear stunt she had pulled. She wasn't sure she could cope with her pathetic friends, who would basically be exactly the same as Claire had been when she came to Westchester for the first time and before she had been molded by the Pretty Committee.

Kristen just sat in her sleeping bag with her legs crossed, her navy blue eyes wide open. She thought Claire was nice, sweet and 'pure'. Her actions didn't usually have malicious intentions underneath them, like most of the other Pretty Committee's. She was happy when her friends did well, not jealous and annoyed. And there was the plus side of her keeping Kristen's secret for all that time. She was quite sure her friends would be just as kind, but she didn't want there to be all the trouble it would cause amongst the Pretty Committee. Despite the boy fast and problems they'd previously been having, the last two weeks of school and week of holidays they had been relatively peaceful and there were few fights between them.

Massie cleared her throat. "AnyWAY. I think we should start to have some FUN. I've got tons of DVDs, and a my new karaoke, and all this food... I can get Inez to make us some smoothies!"

The girls shrugged away the problem looming and laughed at Massie's obsessive compulsion. They spent the rest of the night watching bad movies and singing old songs, stuffing their faces with sugary goodness. When they settled in for bed at midnight, they had all forgotten about the Florida friends coming the next day.

Except for Claire. She wondered how the Pretty Committee would behave towards her friends; she hoped they would be a little nicer to them than they had been to her. But the thing that made her most nervous was the fact that she hadn't told Kristen, Alicia and Massie. They were arriving the next day, they knew that. But they didn't know that they were going to arrive at nine thirty in the morning. Claire hoped that Alicia and Kristen would have left by then.


	5. Chapter 4

**

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**

**The Back of a Taxi  
****Some Street in Westchester  
****9:21 am  
****Saturday**

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Mandy, Sarah and Sari bounced up and down on the dusty seats of the white mini-van their parents had arranged to pick them up. It was the first time they'd ever been on a plane without their parents, and they were very excited. Not only that, but the scenery was way different than in Florida. Instead of occasional palm trees, small condos and tiny tanned children running through sprinklers, screaming their heads off; there were huge gates and long driveways, South American nannies leading their well-behaved charges through quiet morning walks, and even the occasional bodyguard.

"Oh my GOSH, everyone is loaded here!" squealed Sari, squishing her nose against the window and gazing outside in disbelief.

"I know! And we thought Claire was exaggerating!" chuckled Mandy.

The fat man in a light blue collared shirt in the front grinned and said, "We're almost there"

The three girls grabbed each other's wrists and wriggled around eagerly, extremely excited to see Claire again.

"Do you think she's changed a lot?" asked Sarah.

"Well, I bet not THAT much", replied Mandy, sighing.

"I'm really looking forward to meeting her new friends!" exclaimed Sari.

All of a sudden, they stopped in front of a tall black gate. The driver pushed a button and a woman's voice with a Spanish accent crackled through the speaker.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"I'm dropping of three lovely ladies here", the man croaked.

Sarah, Sari and Mandy laughed and squeaked happily as the gates opened slowly and on their own.

"It's like a fairytale", breathed Mandy, as the car drove smoothly down the long winding driveway, which was framed by small manicured bushes. Finally, they came up to the stately stone mansion.

"WOW!" screeched Sarah.

As soon as the car stopped, they jumped out of the door and ran up the steps to the mansion – the same ones Alicia and Kristen had gone up just the previous night. As soon as they got to the double doors, they all pounded on the doors and rang the doorbell.

"Claire! Claire! It's us! We've arrived!" they yelped.

An incredibly pretty girl dressed in her pajamas and with her glossy brown highlighter hair in a messy updo opened the door.

"Hi. I'm Massie. I live here. You must be Claire's friends", she said in a bored tone, "Claire! Your, um, _friends_ are here".

They heard three sets of footsteps, and then they saw three girls. One had short blonde hair and was dressed in incredibly tight pyjamas, the other was tall and beautiful with the hugest boobs they'd ever seen which were covered in folds of orange silk, and last was…

"CLAIRE!" they screamed, and ran over to her. They enveloped her in a huge bear hug, in the middle of telling her how much they had missed them. Claire patted their backs and then gently pushed them away.

"Uh, guys, these are my friends Kristen", she pointed to the blonde girl, "Alicia", she pointed to the girl in orange silk pyjamas, "and you've met Massie". Claire sighed and rolled back her shoulders. "These are my friends from Florida, Mandy", Claire pointed to the girl dressed in a denim Gap miniskirt, a green Old Navy spaghetti strap tank top and green apple-printed Keds with brown curly hair and brown eyes, "Sarah", she pointed to the girl in the pink Forever 21 flowered summer-dress and pink Roxy flip flops with long straight blonde hair and grey eyes, "and Sari", she pointed to the girl dressed in khaki Aeropostale shorts, a white T-Shirt with 'Abercrombie' written in blue script across the chest and light blue Converses with a dark brown bob and green eyes.

"Nice to meet you", smiled Mandy, putting her hand out to Massie. "Thanks so much for letting us stay in your house, it's awesome!"

Massie looked at the hand disdainfully and sniffed. Kristen and Alicia snickered.

"Thanks" said Massie coldly, and turned back to her Pretty Committee. "Guys, let's go get changed. Claire, you coming?"

Claire nodded and then looked at her friends. "Uh, why don't you go through to the kitchen and help yourself for something to eat? Ask Inez, she can fix you something up".

Then she turned back to the Pretty Committee. They walked slowly back into the screening room.

"Is it just me, or was she acting weird?" asked Mandy, standing and staring at the spot Claire had just been standing on.

"I KNOW!! It's almost like she didn't want even want us to be here!" cried Sari.

"C'mon guys, I bet she's just tired or something. She had a sleepover last night…" sighed Sarah. "We should go get our bags".

They turned on their heels and went out the door. They hopped down the stairs to the mini-van, where the driver was waiting, holding their bags. He handed each one to its respective owner. The girls thanked him, then walked back to the mansion. They dumped their suitcases in the hallway and then looked around.

"Uh, which door leads to the kitchen?" the huge hall had many doors and arches leading out of it. To their pleasure, an incredibly thin woman walked through one door.

"Oh, hello! Are you Claire's friends?" she said, in a pinched tone.

Sari nodded.

"Let me take you to the kitchen, I'll get you something to eat", she smiled warmly. As they walked through one of the doors, she said, "I'm Kendra, Massie's mom. Have you met Massie yet?"

Mandy nodded.

"Great". They arrived at the kitchen where they found a woman with grey hair scraped back in a tidy bun, wearing a white dress and apron. "Inez, can you please prepare these girls something to eat? Thank you. Nice to meet you, girls. I just have to go to the gym. See you later!" Kendra said, walking out of the kitchen and back to the hall.

"What would you like?" asked Inez, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead with her the end of her apron.

Sarah, Sari and Mandy looked at each other. "Ice cream, please", said Sari. The other two girls nodded. Inez went to the huge silver freezer and took out a few tubs of ice cream. She laid out some pots of sprinkles and other toppings, bags of candy and a couple of canisters of whipped cream. The girls stared in shock at all the stuff. When they were at home and asked for ice cream, their parents either told them to get it themselves or just tossed out a half-eaten tub of whatever ice cream they happened to have. The girls began to scoop out what they wanted from the grand selection in front of them, squirted out whipped cream, and shook some toppings out on top. While they were beginning to eat, Claire and the rest of the Pretty Committee came through the door.

"Claire!" exclaimed Mandy, through a mouthful of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Claire smiled and lifted her fingers in an unenthusiastic half-wave. "Hey", she murmured.

"Massie, I've gotta go now, m'kay?" said Alicia, looking round at the mess Claire's friends had created. She crinkled her perfectly waxed eyebrows and gave Massie, Kristen and Claire a quick hug.

Massie look wistfully after the back of her friend's red boob tube dress from Missoni. "Sure, I'll talk to you laytah, okay?" she called after her. She could see Alicia nodding.

"Kristen, are you staying?" asked Claire quietly.

"No, I think I should go as well. My mom wanted me to read at least ten classics over the summer, so I have to get started", she said, hooking a chunk of hair behind her ear.

"Ohmygod! I'm doing that too! What are you reading?" asked Mandy.

"Right now I'm doing Nicholas Nickleby" said Kristen, her cheeks turning pink.

"Wow, that story is amazing!" cried Mandy.

"Uh, Kristen, weren't you leaving?" asked Massie, her eyebrows raising so high on her forehead that they practically disappeared.

"Yeah, totally… See you later, I guess", said Kristen, hugging Massie and nodding to Claire's friends. "Thanks again, last night was amayyy-zing!"

Kristen scuttled out of the room, her hot pink terry Juicy miniskirt flapping behind her.

Massie inhaled deeply, smoothed down her fringe and started walking towards the door.

"Toodles! Nice meeting you, Mary, Samantha, Sammie…" she said, purposefully 'forgetting' their names. Claire knew that she meant to, but her friends had no idea and Mandy called out "actually, our names are Mandy, Sarah and Sari…"

Massie burst into laughter and ran out the room, her bare feet making padding noises on the wood.

"What's so funny?" whispered Sarah. Claire rolled her eyes as Mandy and Sari laughed hysterically.


	6. Chapter 5

* * *

**Block Estate Guesthouse  
Claire's Bedroom  
7:49  
Saturday**

* * *

Claire, Mandy, Sari and Sarah were sitting in front of the TV, surrounded by bumper sized bags of gummies. They were watching their all time favourite musical together, The Sound of Music, and playfully arguing about which song is the best. 

"Do Re Mi!" shouted Sari.

"Lonely Goatherd!" shouted Mandy.

"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria!" shouted Sarah.

"My Favourite Things!" shouted Claire.

They all burst into peals of laughter and began furtively arguing their cases. Claire picked up a worm and slowly lowered it into her mouth, like she was a bird. She was finding herself actually enjoying her Florida friends' company after they had broken the ice a couple hours earlier. Things were starting to feel like old times again.

"Shut up everyone!" shouted Mandy. "It's THE best song!"

The rest of the girls laughed as Mandy jumped up and danced around the living room, singing along to the song. Mandy wiggled her polyester clad butt, which reminded Claire of Derrington. She was about to tell her friends about how he was constantly mooning everyone when she remembered that he and Massie had broken up. If they knew that she had dated someone without telling them, they would be hurt and upset, and then they would tease her endlessly. And if they found out why he broke up with her, they would hug her and tell her it was okay, but later they would lecture her about people's right to privacy. Claire had to make sure that none of her friends ever found out about Cam or Derrington or ESP or anything. Drama for them was when someone got kicked off the latest episode of Friends, NOT spying on boys unleashing their innermost feelings in a glittery bomb shelter.

"Yodel-ay-ee-yodel-ay-ee-yodelay-hee-hoo" warbled Mandy, jumping onto the couch and bouncing up and down in her fluffy pink striped socks.

The doorbell ran loudly and Mandy tripped over a cushion in surprise, landing on the floor on her back.

"Owwww", she wailed, rubbing it as she stood up. Sarah and Sari rushed to her side to check that she was okay while Claire tried hard to suppress the giggles, thinking to herself how the Pretty Committee would crack up if they were here. She got to her feet and went to the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Massie, who else? Open up! I don't want to get bitten", said the voice on the other end of the door, in the hurried yet bored tone only Massie could do.

Claire wondered what she had done to deserve her present situation and opened the door with a sigh. There stood Massie, dressed in a white terry Juicy Couture strapless mini-short romper and bright blue plastic Marc Jacobs flats. Her hair was pulled back with a bright blue patent headband and she was holding Bean under one arm. Massie sauntered in, dropped Bean onto the floor, and smiled as he scurried away, the white gold charms on his Gucci collar jangling with every step.

"Kuh-laire, I am soooo bored! I dunno what Dylan is doing, but Kristen is out with her mom and Alicia is having a big family dinner – Nina is NAWT here, by the way – and I need someone to talk to", Massie said. She wouldn't admit to anyone but Claire that she was bored, but it was hard to pretend to be busy when the person you wanted to lie to lived practically in the same house as you. Besides, she knew that Claire would never use it against her. Then Massie's face fell. "Oh wait, your _friends _are here, aren't they?" she said snidely. Massie said 'friends' in such a way that it actually sounded like they were in italics.

"Uh, yeah, but you can stay with us. My parents and Todd went out for dinner and a movie. We're watching Sound of Music", said Claire, hoping Massie would refuse her offer and return to her house, so that Claire wouldn't have to try and include Massie but also not make her Florida friends feel left out.

Massie bit her well-glossed lip and sighed. "Whatevs. It's better than watching reruns of Happy Days all night". Claire prayed that the night would be a success and then led Massie into the living room.

"Guys? Massie is gonna spend the night with us!" she said, pretending to be excited.

Mandy was sitting on the floor with her legs on the coffee table, with Sarah and Sari sitting on either side of her as they stared at the screen. When Claire came in, they turned around and looked over the sofa. Claire was standing there, twirling her blonde hair around a finger while Massie surveyed the scene with a superior air. They looked at each other and smiled up, despite their not being in a particularly smiling mood. They couldn't stand Massie. They remembered how mean she had been to Claire, and they had been surprised when Claire had eventually become friends with the Pretty Committee. They had thought Massie stuck up and spoilt the moment they met her, and they weren't in any mood to change their minds. Alicia was a bit annoying and too beautiful for her own good, but Kristen was actually pretty nice.

"Cool", said Sarah, hooking her hair behind her ear. She tapped Mandy's arm and Mandy and Sari shuffled up, as did Sarah, leaving room for Massie and Claire in front of the screen, which was flashing with the pictures of the Von Trapp children singing and dancing.

Massie snorted and jumped onto the couch, refusing their offer of the floor. She curled up her waxed tan legs and cupped her chin around her palm. Claire glanced at the sofa and the floor, and ended up sitting on a rocking chair between both and pumped her feet back and forth uneasily. Soon after they had all settled down, Edelweiss came on.

"Oh my gosh, this song is so sad, it practically makes me cry!" wailed Sari, pretending to wipe away tears from her cheeks.

Massie sniggered at her cheesy motions. Suddenly remembering something, she patted the seat of the sofa and called out, "Bean! Bean! Come here, Beanie-Baby!"

The small black dog scurried into the room and leaped onto the sofa, where he promptly sat on top of Massie's lap.

"Aww, that dog is so cute!" squealed Mandy, spinning around to face the sofa and patting its head heavily.

"I don't usually like pugs, but this one is so sweet!" exclaimed Sarah, rubbing its back without a trace of malice in her voice.

"You are the most adorable little munchkin in the whole entire world!" said Sari, cooing into its squished little face.

Massie knew she had the cutest little dog ever, so she simply sat back in the sofa and watched the girls fuss over Bean. She looked over at Claire, who was sitting on her rocking chair and smiling distantly, obviously thinking deeply about something. She caught Claire's eyes and rolled her own, making Claire snicker behind her hand and roll her eyes back.

Eventually Sarah, Sari and Mandy turned back to the T.V. and continued watching the film. As the other girls stared at the screen, Massie glanced over everyone's outfits. She saw that Claire was wearing a Powerpuff Girl pajama set, left over from Florida, and winced. Had Claire not fully understood that it was equally important to look good under the covers as it was to look good over them? Mandy (at least, the girl she thought was Mandy) was dressed in red and white spotted pajamas with a huge Minnie Mouse on the front of the shirt, Sarah (ditto) was dressed in a My Little Ponies nightgown, and Sari (or was she Sarah?) was dressed in a pink Care Bears pajama set. She couldn't understand the attraction to jammies made of synthetic fabrics and adorned with cartoon characters. Maybe it was Florida thing.

Finally the film ended. Massie was relieved. The last time she had seen an old musical was when she was five, and she wasn't about to start again. However, the others looked somewhat disheartened by the finish of the film, and before they could suggest they watch another one, Massie jumped to her feet and grabbed Bean.

"Um. Bye", she said, walking towards the door.

"Didn't you like it?" asked Sari, innocently widening her eyes.

Massie simply snorted and closed the door.

"Well", thought Claire, "that could've been worse".


End file.
